This Is My Life
by Empress Empoleon
Summary: His life was anything but normal, but he wouldn't change it for the world. / Harry, Ginny, and trying to be normal after the war. .:For Anna:.


_Happy birthday, Anna! Ily!_

* * *

_"Where love is concerned, too much is not even enough." – Pierre Beaumarchais._

* * *

The first thing that went wrong was the alarm clock.

"Bloody hell, I should have known that these Muggle contraptions wouldn't work," Ron muttered as he ran around the house half-naked, looking for his pants. Harry sat at the table, stuffing toast into his mouth while putting on his socks.

"Screw it, we're going to be late!" Harry Apparaited to the Ministry, and Ron came a second later, still pulling on his pants.

* * *

"Harry?" Ginny came down the stairs, calling her boyfriend's name.

"They just left," Hermione told her.

Ginny sulked. "He never even said good-bye."

* * *

Ginny was the last thing on Harry's mind.

The two ran to Auror Headquarters, and burst through the doors just as the clock struck eight.

"Cutting it close, boys?" Gawain Robards, Head of the Auror Office and Harry and Ron's boss, said. "I prefer punctuality."

Ron grumbled in protest, sitting in his chair. Harry sat next to him, still chewing on some toast.

"Hope you lot are ready, because I've got some intense work ready for you all today." Gawain summoned some dummies, one for each of them. "Right now we'll be practicing the Knockback jinx."

Harry groaned. He hardly slept last night, thanks to his frequent nightmares, and he really wasn't up to the hard work Auror training required at the moment.

"Potter, is this too much for you? If so, you can leave." Gawain never believed in favoritism, or making things easier.

Harry glowered, his ears turning pink. Everybody laughed, before firing off the spell at the dummies.

Sighing, Harry shot off the jinx too. "Flippendo!"

"More power, Potter!"

Harry growled, repeatedly shooting jinxed that were each more powerful than the last. He drove the dummy back until it fell over and broke.

Everybody was silent as they stared at the fuming Harry. He was practically on fire with his anger.

"Potter, do you need to step outside for a moment?" Gawain asked tentatively. An angry Harry wasn't the best Harry.

Harry stiffly shook his head, but on the inside, he just wanted to run away and crawl into a deep hole.

* * *

At lunch, he dragged himself to the cafe where he and Ginny decided to eat today.

(Well, really, Ginny had decided and he didn't want to argue with her. He didn't even_ like_ this place.)

She was sitting at a table for two by the window, her red hair brushed back in a ponytail that Harry found odd. "Why are you so late?"

"Training," Harry said, slipping into the booth across from her. This morning had been harder than usual, and he was really looking forward to some quiet time with Ginny now. He was glad when she didn't press the subject.

They ordered their food, and as they were waiting, they heard a familiar sound from down the street.

"Look, your beloved fans are coming," Ginny sneered. He knew she was annoyed at them for always interrupting, and he couldn't blame her.

"Bloody hell..." Harry remarked as he ducked under the table. How did his fans know this was where he was meeting up with Ginny today?

"Harry!" A mob of girls screamed as they pressed their faces to the window.

Harry held his breath, crouched under the table. Fan girls were a whole other Voldemort in themselves.

"They're always ruining everything," Ginny coldly remarked as he sat back in his seat. The manager had shooed them all away, so the coast was clear.

"I wish I could get rid of them too," Harry agreed.

"No, you like the attention. I know you, Harry."

"Ginny, this hapens everyday-"

"Don't interrupt me! I wish you'd think of your girlfriend as more important than your fans and work, Harry Potter!"

Harry sighed as Ginny stormed out of the cafe. This happened nearly three times a week; Ginny was just the type of girl who easily got jealous.

He laid down a few Galleons and Apparaited back to the Ministry, completely dreading the afternoon of training waiting for him.

* * *

With sore muscles and hungry stomachs, Harry and Ron reached the Burrow at seven in the evening, completely exhausted.

"Ron!" Hermione ran down the stairs, glowing with girlfriend pride. "How was your day?"

"Tiring," Ron said as Hermione kissed him on the cheek. His face broke into this ridiculous, love struck smile, and Hermione's cheeks tinged pink.

Harry made a gagging noise, and Hermione turned on him.

"Oh, shut up. Just go snog Ginny already."

The frown on his face confirmed their suspicions.

"Harry, she does this all the time. She'll forgive you by supper," Ron said.

"But you do need to pay more attention to her," Hermione told him. "Like this morning, she was upset when you didn't say bye to her before leaving."

"She's just annoyed at the fan girls, and so am I," Harry retorted. "I think that she should think what it's like to be me for a change."

Harry stormed up the stairs. Ron called after him, and Hermione shook her head.

They heard a sobbing noise behind them. Turning, they saw Ginny, who had been sitting behind them the whole time.

"Oh, Ginny-" Hermione began, but was cut off as Ginny ran out the back door and slammed it.

"They'll make up," Ron said, but the uncertainty in his voice was clear.

* * *

Dinner was a tense affair. As Harry and Ginny weren't talking, Ron and Hermione were left to awkwardly try to hold a conversation in the middle.

Nobody else was at the table; Bill and Fleur were at Shell Cottage, George was at the joke shop, Percy was at his new flat, shared with his girlfriend Audrey, and Arthur and Molly were spending the evening at Andromeda's house, helping out with baby Teddy.

"Come on, you two," Hermione desperately pleaded. "Don't let something this stupid come between you."

"How about you mind your own business?" Ginny involuntarily snapped.

"Ginny-"

"Don't chide me! Just because I'm not snogging my boyfriend all the time doesn't mean I'm not in a happy relationship!"

Hermione's eyes widened. Ron spoke up for her. "Don't talk to her like that!"

"Oh, I'm so scared. What are you going to do, tell Mummy on me?"

"Ginny!" Ron stood up, protectively shielding Hermione.

"I was just trying to help," Hermione whispered.

"Yeah, that's what you're always trying to do, help. Well, guess what? You don't! So stop meddling in my-"

"Ginny, stop!" Ron roared. Oddly enough, she _did_ stop; she looked startled at his outburst - and at her own.

"Let's get out of here," Ron said, tugging at Hermione's wrist. He whisked her away, and now it was just Harry and Ginny in the house.

"You shouldn't have lashed out at Hermione like that," Harry told her.

"Oh, so I'm the one who's at fault here, not Hermione?" Ginny exclaimed.

"Fine then. Go to your dear Hermione. See if I care." Ginny ran towards the stairs.

"You're being ridiculous! Hermione's nothing more than a friend!" Harry shouted, his temper flaring. She was reminding him of Cho, the way she was getting jealous of Hermione. "But you're always so selfish, thinking that it's only you who's having a tough day-"

A door slam cut him off.

She didn't come out of her room after that; Harry was so frustrated at the entire day that he didn't even try to make up with her.

He climbed into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

_Harry's eyes flew open._

_Darkness. _

_That was all. Just pure, black as night darkness._

_Harry clambered to his feet and suddenly began to fall. He plummeted through the air, the force ripping a scream from his throat as he traveled downward for what seemed like forever._

_Eventually he landed - on a pool of blood. He tried to stand and run away, but suddenly, his feet couldn't feel the ground and he couldn't breathe and he was drowning in a pool of blood._

_Harry thrashed, spitting out the blood. It was sickening to see so much of it; almost an ocean of red._

_"Harry, take my hand!" A flash of red; but not blood red, Weasley red. _

_Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and she pulled him out. As he lay on the ground, panting, Ginny waited for him._

_"Harry. I've been waiting for you." Harry looked into her usually warm eyes, to find them cold and unwelcoming. Her face began to transform, until suddenly it was a gruesome monster's face, with fangs glistening with saliva._

_Harry shrieked in an embarassing matter as he quickly escaped its claws. He ran further into the darkness, to fall into a large pit that seemed even darker than the rest of the horror landscape._

_Hands reached out from the darkness, whispering his name, begging him to join them._

_"Harry," Lupin called, his face severely disfigured, like he was in mid-transformation between human and werewolf._

_"Harry!" Tonks shrieked, her face looking like Helga Hufflepuff's defiled, dark cup. "Come to us!"_

_The hands were reaching out; they were pale and sickly and decaying. He saw the faces of the dead - his parents, Sirius, Cedric, Mad-Eye Moody, Fred._

_A hand grabbed around his neck. He screamed as it began to choke him._

_His vision was getting bleary...dark spots were dancing...everything was fading..._

* * *

"Harry!"

Harry woke up with a start, panting as if he had just ran a marathon. He was sweating all over, and his eyes nervously glanced around, as if someone was after him.

"Harry." Ginny wrapped her arms around him, and he hugged her tightly, glad to have someone there, someone real and solid.

"I heard you screaming and I had to come check on you," Ginny said into his neck. "And I'm sorry about earlier, I was just so jealous that we haven't been able to spend a lot of time alone together, and Hermione's easy relationship with Ron was getting on my nerves. I'm sorry."

Ginny looked so out of place apologizing. She had always been the stubborn one; if Harry hadn't been so shaken up from his dream, he would have laughed.

"I'm sorry too," Harry said, still shaking slightly from his nightmare.

"Harry, are you all right?"

"These nightmares come every night. They're no big deal, really." He was lying straight through his teeth; these nightmares _still _scared him, even after all this time.

"I have nightmares too," Ginny admitted, already knowing that Harry wasn't telling the truth about his dreams. "But I don't let them scare me."

"How?"

"Because I know that you're always there to protect me."

Her words blew Harry away. She still had so much faith in him, after all this time, after all the fights they had.

"I love you," Ginny whispered, and though it wasn't the first time she said it, it was the first time it ever meant so much to the two of them.

* * *

The next morning Harry woke up late again; though it wasn't nearly as bad because Ginny was next to him and kissed him awake.

As he left for the Ministry, he realized that just like the fangirls, the nightmares and a jealous Ginny were all parts of his life, and he couldn't change any of them.

But this was his life, normal or not. And he was alive, and that was good enough for him.

His life was anything but normal, but he wouldn't change it for the world.

* * *

_"I'd like to be settled into somewhat of a normal life. Somewhat. I know it's never going to be completely normal. "-Michael Jordan._

* * *

A/N: angry!Ginny is really hard to write.

_Done For:_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - History of Magic ("I'd like to be settled into somewhat of a normal life. Somewhat. I know it's never going to be completely normal. "-Michael Jordan; 1999; a character must have a nightmare.) and Ghoul Studies (a character must hurt another character)_

_Fanfiction School of Imagination and Creativity - English 2, writing 2000 words (I used my minus ten percent on the word count; it's about 1900 words.) based on the quote, "Where love is concerned, too much is not even enough." – Pierre Beaumarchais._

_Gemstone Competition - Fluorite (Write about someone having nightmares or being sad.)_


End file.
